Surgical needle and method of making it



July 19 1927. 1,636,615

E. A. QUINT SURGICAL NEEDLE AND METHOD OF MAKING IT Filed March '1 1925 reamed Jul 19, 1927.

err-an STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EVERETT A. QUINT, OF NEW BRUNSWICK, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR T0 JOHNSON & JOHNSON, OF NEW BRUNSWICK, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

SURGICAL NEEDLE AND METHOD OF MAKING IT.

Application filed March 18, 1926. Serial No. 95,637.

The object of my invention is to provide forthe rapid production of surgical needles,

There are serious disadvantages coupled with this practice, to-wit,-inherent weakness at the juncture of the needle bar and the spread portion or heel, resulting in fatigueeither immediate or eventual, and hence, rendering the use of the needle haz ardous; sometimes a well defined notch is formed at the juncture of the heel and body and usually there is not suflicient spread of metal to insure a closed seam or butt joint, so that these conditions, the ragged edge of the notch and the spaced walls of the ligature engaging heel, tear and othcrwise'irritate the tissue; the security of the ligature is wholly dependent on the clenching action of the rolled heel; and, finally, there is no assurance of uniformity of product in quantity production. 'e I depart from the old practice in anumber. of respects and, generally stated, the nature of my invention consists in forming the spread portion or heel not alone from the needle bar but partly from the needle bar and partly from stock ultimately separated from the needle bar by the flanged portion or heel. Otherwise stated, the heel is formed under conditions which insure uniformity of spread of metal and uniformity of metal section for the reason that the metal is not stolen from the needle body but is contributed by the general stock. The ac tual method of its production is by'pressing a groove radially of the-stock to provide a longitudinally open tube or channel whereof the spaced walls are of sufficientextent to insure flush contact when closed upon the ligature. By forming the flanges while their respective ends are supported by stock metal, I insure uniformity of metal section and avoidance of ragged edges. It

is also a merit of the invention that it does not depend alone on the clenching action of the flanges for security of thehgature, but provides, in a simple way and incidental to the formation of the heel or flanged portion, an additional safeguard to prevent casual separation of the ligature.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate the preferred embodiment of my inventive th0ught,

F Igure 1 is a top view of the blank after the initial steps of pointing, channeling, and tempering; following which the grooved or channeled portion is annealed or softened and the needle polished.

Fig. 2 is a section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation.

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional vein of the channel showing the transversely rangmg ribs for gripping the ligature.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the needle structure after the removal of the dead end and the final shaping of the channel.

Fig. 6v shows the needle in its finished state with a ligature applied.

While the illustration is confined to a straight needle, it is manifest that the method is applicable to curved types of needles and such is contemplated.

According to my invention, the blank or needle stock 5 is pointed as at 6 and its body is longitudinally grooved by a pressing or extruding operation the effect of which is to displace metal laterally in one direction without disturbing the continuity of the bar to provide a longitudinally ranging channel with Walls 7 of uniform section the ends of which vanish in the stock. The article is then tempered. The next step is to anneal or soften the walls 7 to put them in condition for closing action upon the ligature. The needlemay then be polished or polishing may be resorted to after removing the ill dead end-8 and finally shaping the open tube or grooved portion. The channel generally is formed somewhat longer than required to allow ample tolerance for finishing. As a result of the cropping or dead end removing operation, the extremity of the channeled heel is open its full section and readily admits of the introduction of the ligature 9.

The pressing down of the channel walls 7 establishes a closed seam or flush joint 10, Fig. 6, because the metal displacing operationcan be so regulated as to spread the 1 walls just enough to accomplish that result.

' the ligature.

stock; and the displacing operation is such that the end wall 12 of the channel is not disposed at an abrupt angle but slopes gradually from the outside.

It is a merit of the invention that the tool for eifecting the metal displacing or channeling\ operation may be of such nature asto indent or upset metal within the channel area to provide a multiplicity of grips for In the preferred embodiment the grips are in the form of transversely ranging ribs 13 Fig. 4.

' Having described my invention, I claim 1. A method for quantity production of surgical needles characterized .by their uniformity and substantial freedom from fatigue, which consists in subjecting bar stock to a metal displacing operation regulated as to depth so as to leave bridging bar stock free from mechanical strains and stresses while forming a groove which' merges at each end, without abruptness, in full section bar, stock dividing the stock transversely of the groove area, tempering and pointing the divided stock, andannea ling the burs formed by the displaced metal.

2. A method as in claim 1, wherein the groove is formed by piercing to a depth substantially half the thickness of the bar stock and has a sloping end wall.

3. A method as in claim 1, wherein a groove with a ribbed surface is formed by a piercing operation which leaves the major portion of the metal undisturbed, the side walls of the groove having an unbroken joint with theneedle .bar.

4. A surgical needle substantially free from fatigue, consisting of full section bar stoclrhaving a groove pierced therein to about half depth, the groove having a sloping end wall and side walls which join the bar stock without a break and have burs which are annealed whereby they may be availed of to close the gnoove, the bottom 

